Concern, Worry Mount For Bay Area Ukrainians As Fighting Intensifies
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- As the bombing and fighting intensifies and news reports are filled with stunning images of the Russian invaders, concern and worries mount for Bay Area Ukrainians who have families still in their home country.
"It's terrible," said Angela Volkovich, a San Francisco resident. "My cousin just got pulled into the army. He's 60 years old."
Volkovich said her cousin lives in Odessa and should be preparing for retirement, not go into combat. She's worried he won't survive the fight.
"People are dying for nothing, nothing," said Volkovich.
She said her cousin's family was sleeping in some kind of basement because of the intense bombing near their home. The 59-year-old Volkovich left Odessa, which is in Southern Ukraine, to come to the Bay Area when she was 16 years old. She said the war didn't make sense.
"It's your neighboring country," she said of Russia. " And they're cousins. There's no point in that war."
But several people in San Francisco told KPIX the attack on Ukraine was justified. Only one man was willing to go public and be quoted.
Brother Nathanael Kapner said he's a monk at a Russian Orthodox Church. He said it was his personal opinion and his view was not a related to his church.
"No war is a good thing, but it's a necessary thing, okay? It had to be," he said. "But it's not a war. It's a peace-making operation. They're not attacking citizens. They're not attacking cities. They're just taking out military installations and they've been very successful of that."
When asked about footage of injured civilians seen on news media, he responded, "This is fake news, okay? This is fake, lying news from the West."
"It's not fake news. I mean they can go to Instagram (and other social media sites) and follow people who actually live there," said Volkovich.
There are many Russians in the Bay Area who are against the war. San Francisco resident Dima Mostovoy left Moscow more than three decades ago.
"Invading in this fashion is just totally shocking, totally shocking," Mostovoy said. "Totally unexpected. I think it's terrible."
He and many others are pleading for peace.
"I'm praying for truce, and soon," said Mostovoy.